[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 33 (Friday, February 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7877-7879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3605]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 0811251527-9165-02]
RIN 0648-ZB55


Availability of Grants Funds for Fiscal Year 2009; Amendment

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Department of Commerce (DOC).

ACTION: Notice of funding availability; amendment.

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SUMMARY: NOAA publishes this notice to amend the solicitation ``NOAA 
Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program,'' which was 
originally announced in the Federal Register on Tuesday, December 16, 
2008. Due to technical difficulties, potential applicants may have 
experienced problems when attempting to submit applications for the 
``NOAA Bay

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Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program,'' solicitation (73 FR 
76341) through Grants.gov. This notice announces that the B-WET Program 
will accept applications from applicants who were unsuccessful in 
submitting their application through Grants.gov during the original 
solicitation period.

DATES: Applicants will be required to provide documentation of the 
problem and appropriate paper application materials to the B-WET 
National Coordinator by 5:00 PM ET, February 27, 2009.

ADDRESSES: B-WET National Coordinator, NOAA Office of Education, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW, Room 6863, Washington, DC 20230. Please note: 
Because hard copies of applications submitted via the US Postal Service 
can take up to 4 weeks to reach this office, applicants are advised to 
submit their applications via expedited shipping methods (e.g., 
Airborne Express, DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about this notice may be 
directed to Bronwen Rice, B-WET National Coordinator, by phone at 202-
482-6797 or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA publishes this notice to inform the 
public of an amendment to the solicitation ``NOAA Bay Watershed 
Education and Training (B-WET) Program'' announced in the Federal 
Register on December 16, 2008 (73 FR 76341). Due to issues with the 
submission process and system-wide delays in using Grants.gov on the 
days prior to and including the deadline, some potential applicants for 
the NOAA B-WET program may have been unsuccessful in submitting their 
applications through the website. To ensure that all applicants have 
the opportunity to apply for the B-WET program, NOAA will accept paper 
applications to this announcement where it can be shown that the 
applicants attempted to submit via Grants.gov by the January 26 
deadline originally published in the announcement, and who contacted a 
Federal Program Officer to communicate their problem. If these 
applicants would like to have their application considered for funding, 
they may submit a complete paper application package to the B-WET 
National Coordinator by 5:00 PM ET, February 27, 2009.
    All information and requirements published in NOAA Bay Watershed 
Education and Training (B-WET) Program solicitation published in the 
Federal Register on December 16, 2008 apply to any applications 
submitted pursuant to this notice.

Limitation of Liability

    In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible 
for proposal preparation costs if this program is cancelled because of 
other agency priorities. Publication of this announcement does not 
oblige NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available 
funds. Applicants are hereby given notice that funding for the Fiscal 
Year 2009 program is contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year 
2009 appropriations.

Universal Identifier

    Applicants should be aware they are required to provide a Dun and 
Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number during the 
application process. See the October 30, 2002, Federal Register, (67,FR 
66177) for additional information. Organizations can receive a DUNS 
number at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS Number 
request line at 1-866-705-5711 or via the Internet at http://www.dunandbradstreet.com.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

    NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required 
by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects 
or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities. 
Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the 
following NOAA NEPA website: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our 
NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/NAO216_6_TOC.pdf, and the Council on Environmental Quality 
implementation regulations, http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm. Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under 
their description of their program activities, applicants are required 
to provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted, 
locations, sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible 
construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist 
(e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals, 
introduction of non-indigenous species, impacts to endangered and 
threatened species, aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef 
systems). In addition to providing specific information that will serve 
as the basis for any required impact analyses, applicants may also be 
requested to assist NOAA in drafting of an environmental assessment, if 
NOAA determines an assessment is required. Applicants will also be 
required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying feasible measures to 
reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts of their 
proposal. The failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting an 
application. In some cases if additional information is required after 
an application is selected, funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer 
under a special award condition requiring the recipient to submit 
additional environmental compliance information sufficient to enable 
NOAA to make an assessment on any impacts that a project may have on 
the environment.
    The Department of Commerce Pre-award Notification Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register 
notice of October 1, 2001 (66 FR 49917), as amended by the Federal 
Register notice published on: October 30, 2002 (67 FR 66109); December 
30, 2004 (69 FR 78389); and February 11, 2008 (73 FR 7696) are 
applicable to this solicitation.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This document contains collection-of-information requirements 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The use of Standard Forms 
424, 424A, 424B, SF-LLL, and CD-346 has been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the respective control numbers 0348-
0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-0001. Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, no person is required to respond to, nor 
shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a 
collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA unless 
that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

Executive Order 12866

    This notice has been determined to be not significant for purposes 
of Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    It has been determined that this notice does not contain policies 
with Federalism implications as that term is defined in Executive Order 
13132.

Administrative Procedure Act/ Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required 
by the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for rules 
concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, and contracts (5 
U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). Because notice and opportunity for comment are not 
required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or

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any other law, the analytical requirements of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are inapplicable. Therefore, a 
regulatory flexibility analysis has not been prepared.

    Dated: February 12, 2009.
Mitchell J. Ross,
Director, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office.
[FR Doc. E9-3605 Filed 2-19-09; 8:45 am]
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